The best of Hasselbeck: QB back to being ‘drug free’

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck isn’t in the news quite as much this week, his health status no longer a daily concern as he’s returned strongly from broken ribs and isn’t even taking painkillers to get through practice any longer.

Matt Hasselbeck

But Hasselbeck surely will be one of the key participants in Sunday’s big NFC West battle against Arizona at Qwest Field, so here are some of his thoughts Thursday after meeting with the media following practice.

As usual, it’s good insight and information mixed with a healthy dose of Hasselbeck humor, which is always served dry.

On his health this week vs. last: “Monday was good. Not too bad. Thursday, it’s even better. I feel real good, I’m drug free and that’s a good place to be.”

Will he still need to protect himself Sunday as he did in last week’s game?: “We’ve kind of put it behind us. I was feeling no pain on Sunday, mostly adrenaline, but I’m not concerned about that at all this week.”

On whether he made a point of jumping up and hustling back to the huddle after he rolled out of bounds on his first scramble last week: “If anything, one thing that bothers me is when quarterbacks around the league kind of have a bad body language, like ‘I don’t really want to be here.’ That’s probably one of the most annoying things in the world to me. I was excited to be out there and really happy to get a chance to be out on the field.”

On Arizona’s 2-2 record coming off last year’s NFC championship: “Some of us can sympathize with the Super Bowl hangover type thing. It’s very difficult to come off a Super Bowl loss and repeat and they’ve done a pretty good job so far.

What’s with that hangover?: “I have no reason for it, I can’t explain it. But it is real. It’s a tough thing to get over that game, especially for them. They were one play from winning the Super Bowl and they really could have won it. It’s just got to be tough.”

On how Kurt Warner is playing so well at age 38 and whether that gives him thoughts of his own longevity: “I don’t know. He went to the gloves. I think that might have had something to do with it. Maybe when I hit a certain age I’ll go to the gloves. I don’t know what the trick is but it’s definitely worked. He’s been playing at a high level.”

On his personal battles against Arizona safety Adrian Wilson: “There are guys on every team, whether it’s a Troy Palamaulu or a Brian Urlacher or an Adrian Wilson, he’s the leader of their defense or one of them and he’s a very talented player. There aren’t guys of his skill set out there. He’s 6-3, 230, real fast, real physical. He can cover. Smart player. He’s really matured into one of the great safeties in our game.”

And does he get extra enjoyment from playing against a guy like that?: “I don’t enjoy going against him, no. I need to slide when he’s around.”

On his team’s injury-riddled offensive line: “To weather the storm the way they have, to lose probably the best left tackle in football and just keep on going and kind of hold the fort down for him and the other guys we’ve lost is really impressive. We probably need to tell those guys a little more that we appreciate them because they’ve done a heck of a job.”

Does he still get gifts for the offensive line at season’s end?: “We’ve done something like that in the past. It was a lot easier when just five guys played though. When 11 guys play, it gets a little more expensive. We’ve got to re-think that. We might be going back to Isotoners, Dan Marino-style.”